#i do not consider jon an aspirational hero but like. that was always the most compelling part of him to me

[godstaff]

I think the real reason why people don’t like superwonder is because it’s such a threat to clois. Like no one cares when it’s Lana lang or Lori, it’s only Superwonder do clois act like childish. What do you think?

At the dawn of comics, there was this persuation superheroes needed a human partner to make them down to Earth or, at least, narrate their aventures from a human perspective.

I was okay with that since most romances never were supposed to reach conclusion. They were mostly an aspiration, for the hero and the human.

There was also this need for heroes to have a secret identity, since there's not enough work for them to be on the job 24/7. The culmination was the hero, the secret ID and the human ended in a love triangle, like the infamous Lois-Superman-Clark affair. It made writers work much easier, because there was always something to write about.

Superwonder meant the end of it: no more secret ID, no more hiding, no more hillarious situations. Heroes all the time. Hell. Hell and madness. What are we supposed to write about?

At least, with Batso and family we have nice situations, disfunctional family situations. Ha-ha. Anything a limited human reader can understand.

With Lois we have greed, selfishness, ambition on overdrive, ego, intolerance...a writers paradise.

What do we have with Superwonder? Heroism...boring, generous heroism. Care, compassion, love, understanding...okay, okay: with Lork we also have understanding, but all of it must come from Clark. We have love... if that selfish thing Lois has for Superman, not Clark, can be called love.

Superwonder has no conflict. What can conflict them? Diana having a bad hair day? Kal having a wrinkle on his cape? Besides, together they can create a new superrace to end humanity. The horror. The horror. Because Jon Kent is not the first of a new superrace...naah.

People is not entirely against Superwonder. I remember, back in 2012, when it first appear, many were on board, and happily. It was a breath of fresh air. DC was having legal problems with the Siegel estate and they needed a way out to show them they didn't need Lois. So they convinced the World Superman didn't need Lois. Later, when an agreement was reached they had to convince the readers Superwonder was bad. Unfortunatelly, readers are gullible and took it at face value. Gullible people are not too prone to think for themselves, so even those in favor of Supèrwonder considered it a danger: an evil Superman and a crazy Wonder Woman. All their stories pointed in that direction. Without human guidance, heroes can't find theit North.

It all came from legal, commercial and creative difficulties. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with Superwonder. The only wrong thing is DC Comics is a commercial company, focused on making their profits as easy as possible. Screw quality.

[welcometogrouchland]

Okay, real quick, I want to talk about my personal take on Jon's arc in TMA, and that's this:

Whether or not Jon is a good person is functionally irrelevant to his character! Not only because the tma world is one in which true Good w/ a capital G can't be achieved, but also because Jon's arc is not about being Good, but about trying even when it's hard.

It also ties in better with his central conflict with the web and the more abstract concept of agency that plagues him throughout the series. For example, Jon's actions in season 4 are less about the specifics of what he's doing (because you can argue that those victims were expendable in the grand scheme of saving the world (I don't, but it can be made)) and more about whether he is or is not trying to resist the pull of the eye.

And while the Jon/Georgie conflict is based on Georgie's limited information and could easily be seen as too harsh on her side, it also ties back into the central theme of whether or not Jon is Trying. You can easily make the argument he wasn't in a position to Try, but then the argument is raised "what does it mean to be in a position to try?" Is effort a luxury? Tma never answers this! But it's a question that can be raised and I find it more interesting than "is our protagonist good?".

It's also seen in how Jon inspires others to try to be better! The entire season 4 squad, actually. People have brought up the idea that part of what pushed Melanie to abandon the slaughter and seek help was seeing the way she'd hurt Jon during the bullet removal. Even if she never likes him or forgives him, even comes to blame him on some level for things that still aren't his fault (because again, lack of agency and consequences are the biggest themes in Jon's arc). Daisy and Basira are nowhere near good people at the end of their arcs, but their arcs end with them Trying to be better, and both of them are partly inspired by Jon Trying to help them despite what they've done. He doesn't even forgive daisy, but he still helps her (even if I maintain the coffin is partly motivated by him wanting to help basira and his suicidal nature manifesting). Basira explicitly says thanks Jon for inspiring her in season 5 in 199 (or 198, I'm not completely sure, feel free to let me know).

The theme of Trying despite it all is seen in Jon leaving the cabin, in him stopping his avatar murder spree, and in his decision in 200. This theme obviously isn't the only thing Jon has going on: trauma and it's affects, culpability and responsibility, martyrs, saviours, Gods, voyeurism and death are all important parts of him and his arc. Also the way he laughs at scary things <3 but why do I bring up this theme of Trying with a capital T so much?

I've said before that tma is fundamentally from Jon's perspective, later expanding to incorporate Martin's perspective. We see everything through his eyes, and we understand his decisions before anyone else's.

Before, I've said that this often means that characters who need a second look to understand why they do what they do are often more logical in their decisions and have more pathos than we may at first think, since we've only seen them through one specific lens. But here i think that making Jon the understandable, relatable and sympathetic centre of the narrative encourages us to project traditional ideals of heroism onto Jon, who's a lot of things, but a traditional hero isn't one of them! And also because...it's way more comfortable to project onto a traditional, misunderstood hero. We don't want to relate to A Bad Person.

But tma itself encourages you to sit with the sadness and discomfort that comes with relating to Jane Prentiss, to the Distortion, to Oliver Banks and Agnes Montague and fucking Tova McHugh and even our beloved Jarchivist. That's not to say you have to always engage with the narrative in this essay style fashion like me, a notorious little fool who never has fun. Nor is it to say that Jon doesn't do good things/Isn't Good! If that's your reading of the text, then sure, go for it.

But that's not what his arc is about- I fundamentally believe that the arc, the tragedy, the life and times of Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London...is about trying. And that it's a more compelling question than whether or not he's Good or Bad.

[sweetestrequiems]

Playtime’s Over

Request by: A lovely Anon! Thank you for the letter. <3 Prompt: 5) “Kidnapping them was the only way I was going to get them here.”

Character(s): Meghan Pereira / Jonalyn Andrews / Jacob Andrews

Summary: Tired of being seen as some vigilante, Meghan decided she had enough. Her rage consumed her, and thus, she turned to villainy to make a name for herself. And in order to get the attention of someone she once considered such a good friend, Meghan comes up with a ploy to kidnap his sister Jonalyn, just to finally be able to confront Jacob about his treatment of her.

TW: Blood, Physical Violence, Mature/Explicit Language Being Bound/Gagged (because one of them is... well, yeah, you get the point.) Alcohol (mentioned at the beginning.)

A/N: PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION! This is one of the darker works I have lined up to post, the other being the Aragon piece. But, Aragon’s is much lighter than this one. This prompt is very difficult to turn happy, and so the nature of what is under the cut is very, very heavy. Even with these trigger warnings, please proceed with caution. And if you cannot handle any of these triggers aforementioned, please DO NOT READ. I don’t want anyone to get hurt or feel unsafe. And if you have any concerns, please feel free to message me. I love you guys. Stay safe.

The characters here are all original. They have been aged up to be above or at the legal drinking age in the US for purposes of this work. This is also an AU, meaning this is not their actual, canonical timeline. Jacob and Jonalyn are 21, and Meghan is 22 for this. 

––––––––––

Worthless, wordless. You’re nothing.

You’re a criminal with morals. That’s all you ever will be.

A criminal with morals trying to be a hero? What a joke.

Meghan Pereira had enough of it all. Someone who was supposed to be her best friend, just deciding to out her as nothing more than a “criminal with morals”. Something stung about it, the way Jacob and Jonalyn had spoken about her to their other colleagues. She wanted to be a hero; she went after criminals, and that made her target instead of actual civilians. But what was she degraded to? Just a stupid criminal with morals.

And that was months ago. Six months later, and what does Meghan find herself doing?

Making a name for herself, but as one of the most wanted criminals of all time.

December 29th. Meghan Pereira was surprisingly calm despite having been on the run for the past six months. The glass in her hand almost slams down onto the wooden countertop of the bar. She looks up, the bartender nodding. A gorgeous Scotch glass in her hand, being filled with more Hudson Baby Bourbon. Was she inebriated? Well, no. Meghan was on her second glass. And she was surrounded by people she could technically call colleagues, but chose not to. In this world, or rather... the bar she was in, she was the most notorious of them all. The highest ranked villain despite having been a rookie literally months ago.

One could look up who she was in the archives.

Meghan Isabella Pereira. Twenty two years old. About 5′7″. Gorgeous blonde hair and glowing golden eyes. A smile so saccharine, it could trick anyone into thinking she was just a temptress.

––––––––––

Some guy slid up right next to her. He just gave her a look up and down. Gruff voice, and very much so trying to intimidate Meghan. “Why are you here? You're the scrawniest girl I’ve ever–”

Cut off by a sharp elbow to the rib cage. Taking a sip of the newly poured bourbon in the glass, all she did was look over at the guy, who had now gotten up. “I’m sorry, you said what again, you disgraceful fuck?” This is a good instance to mention she does not tolerate anyone’s shit. The glass in her hand was let go as it now sat on the wooden top. Now that Meghan was facing the guy, she stood up, arms crossed.

Hell, she was eye level with him. The only scary thing about this guy was his muscles.

“That was weak. Maybe you should–” Just as he took a swing, Meghan ducked out of the way and spun around, her heel crashing into the guy’s face. Enough to knock him out cold on the spot, too. “Get a load of this guy. Thinking he’s so strong,” she chuckled to herself. Her eyes narrow, the smirk on her face not leaving as the glance goes from him, to everyone around the room. “Go on then, who’s next?” Not a single peep. No one said a word. They all now knew who she was with how her calculated her kick was. Because all of them only knew of one person in their ranks that could pull off that clean of a kick against the muscular guy.

“Mhmm. Anyone else feel like testing my fucking patience tonight? No? Good. Don’t. I’ll make sure you end up on the floor with your buddy.” With a heavy sigh, her left hand went for the glass to swallow the remainder of the bourbon. She had enough of the bullshit of the bar. There was always someone wanting to start a fight, but whatever. The bartender just tapped and nodded. “Pleasure having you around, Meghan.”

“Always good to come by and relax, Greyson.”

––––––––––

February 17th.

Unknown surroundings. Darkness. Ringing in the ears. Jonalyn felt herself waking up, her body aching. With a groan, she rolls over to the wall, using it to help herself sit up. Her lively green eyes had lost the spark of happiness that made her who she was. “Jake, come on... hurry up,” she’d softly mutter, looking up just as the door in front of her was opening up.

Meghan.

“You’re awake again. I should just beat you until you can’t handle it again, but... I’ll be nice enough to actually spare you for one day. A human body can only take but so much trauma before it shuts down. There’s always a method to my madness, y’know,” the blonde faces over, kneeling down in front of the bound woman. Bound wrists and ankles. No way she was going to get out of that.

“All of this... it’s just a revenge ploy. Against you. Against your brother! Against you both! You both took my name and dragged it through the damn mud. Killed my aspirations... and... ha... haha...” Meghan stood up, considering she felt herself laugh. It all hurt. And this was her way of getting revenge. She was seen as such a terrible villain? She would prove it now.

And she wasn’t afraid to have to fight Jacob, either.

“Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, Andrews. You can shut up, or I can shut you up. Your brother should be showing up in an hour or two. I finally decided to make it known where I’ve been keeping you for–”

“I can’t wait for him to come and–” A kick to the jaw. Jonalyn released a shrill noise, falling down to the floor. The pain started pulsing through her body again. And what was worse? Meghan kicked right where there was a scar healing up, and that definitely opened up. The warm, slightly viscous liquid began to flow from her cheek down her face. And with how she was knocked right back down, some of it got on her upper lip. “You bitch.”

“We’re doing it the hard way, then,” Meghan pulled a bandana from her pocket, and she kneeled back down to Jonalyn’s level. “Open up, or I’ll make sure you never close that jaw of yours again.”

–––––––––––

6:30 pm.

“Open up the damn door, Pereira! Why do you have my sister?!”

“Because kidnapping her was the only way I was going to get you here.”

And of course, as expected, the second she did open the door, a swinging fist. She also let herself get hit this time. Stumbling back, Meghan looks up at Jacob with a pained smile. “Finally, you came! Nice entrance, Andrews. Want your sister back? Simple. Tell me WHY you ran my name through the mud! Tell me WHY you didn't defend me! You knew I had aspirations to be with you two and... you two just had to fuck it up.”

Jacob pushed past her, banging on the door where Jonalyn was. “Jon! Hang on! I’ll get you out of here!” Turning around, the male twin just pursed his lips. He didn't know why he did any of that to begin with. “Meghan, look, I know you’re upset and all, but this is too far. My sister?”

“She’s as guilty as you. She didn’t step in. You both watched it happen and did nothing! You're both worthless, useless... wordless. I should honestly murder her in front of you but no, I can't because part of me likes to think we’re best friends still!” Opening the door, Meghan revealed the battered and bound Jonalyn. She let out a muffled cry. She was happy to see her brother.

“Fuck you, Andrews. Okay? You did some of the worst damage possible. And this is what you get to deal with. Now, I’ll let you take your pitiful sister, but...”

“But?”

Meghan spun around and gave the guy a heel strike to the chest, sending him back. “You never... cross my path again. Not until you have an actual apology ready for how you fucked up my life.”

[bnrobertson1]

The Cleansing Comedy of “Cum Town”

To paraphrase a point Canadian All-American Hero Norm MacDonald laid on a then-alive Larry King, comedians used to aspire to be funny, now they aspire to appear smart. While political humor, ostensibly a stage to show off one’s intellect and humanity by the empathetic tackling of modern topics, has been a thing as long as humor itself, there was time in the not-so-distant past where the goal was the display of comedy chops, not compassion*. This significant shift in the mainstream started with Jon Stewart’s reign as host of The Daily Show. A far departure from the wackier Craig “Dance Dance Dance” Kilborn’s approach to the Comedy Central staple, Stewart treated TDS as a megaphone in which he could espouse his political views. Nightly challenging W’s hawkish take on foreign policy, liberals the country over championed their new clever-if-not-amusing hero- but at some point during Stewart’s ascension, reflecting a certain acceptable viewpoint became more important than reflecting a sense of humor.

*Back in the early SNL days Chevy Chase suggested that Gerald Ford sustained significant brain damage playing football to mock Ford’s bumbling persona, not excoriate him on the tenets of his agenda.   

Consider Last Week Tonight with John Oliver or the zeitgeist-shifting Nanette. The former features some of the best reporting on the planet, displaying a willingness to cover potential viewership-poison like prison reform or, on a recent episode, black hair and its connection to the systematic racism African Americans face daily. The show is relentless, passionate, and is about as funny as that sounds. John Oliver is clearly a witty person, but even he often acknowledges how “Erudite Brit Shames Americans over Racism” isn’t exactly the blueprint for a yuckle factory*. Much like his old boss Stewart, Oliver is more dedicated to espousing the correct viewpoint over a funny one. To this point, most “jokes” in the show feel jammed in like a satirical sausage, often coming across as after-thoughts that can mess with the tone**.  As a show it is unquestionably a success, opening myriad eyes to plights once unknown. As a comedy show, which is what it at least originally marketed itself as, it is a failure. 

*It is, however, pretty perfect Monday Morning hiding-in-cubicle watching 

**While he does try to infuse some zaniness into the program by talking about fucking animals or whatever, I don’t think Oliver realizes how genuinely funny it is watching a bookish Brit get upset about coconut oil hair products, although not in the way he probably hopes it would be.

An even purer example of Norm’s point is Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette. The buzzed-about stand-up special is essentially a takedown of white male-ism, albeit one that seems allergic to laughing. Gadsby is trying to woo you with her intellectualism, not her ability to make you chuckle. Some called this approach brilliant- turning a male-dominated form on its head to put its practitioners on blast for things ranging from sexism to transphobia. Widely decorated around the world for its innovative and sharp honesty, Nanette asked the big question: is the next wave of comedy not meant to be funny? Is cutting edge humor not humorous at all? Are we entering a Metal Machine Music era of comedy? And if so, is merely criticizing the perceived powers-that-be now considered comedy?

More like No-nette

This desire to display empathetic enlightenment has gone well beyond the world of stand-up and political comedy. It can be seen by the yanking of episodes of comic cornerstones such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and 30 Rock that feature blackface, or animated programs recasting characters so that voices are both more inclusive and representative. Even The Simpsons has all but abandoned its once trademark balance, its current form essentially the wet-blanket Lisa, a far, far cry from the Homer-centric past of the show’s glory years.   

All of these decisions have been made by the shows’ respective creators, a mea culpa for insensitive liberties taken in the recent past. Blame the internet for the long, indelible digital footprints, but people are now more worried about how the future will remember them, in some enlightened far-off utopia where comedy is really about nothing being funny, and everybody is judged by the language you used when no one really gave a rat’s ass about what you had to say.

Entertainers are far more concerned with looking good fifteen years from now than making people laugh now. Ironic detachment- the reason a lot of the questionable humor existed in the first place*, isn’t a big enough distance for comics to get away with racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry, chuckles be damned.

*Racists have been the butt of the joke- and not the jokesters- for as long as I can remember. I find it hard to believe that anyone could watch an Always Sunny and think they’re mocking minorities. While the meme-ification of America has robbed many of these jokes of context, it’s a waste of time to criticize creators for devolving consumption habits, especially in the name of inclusion, compassion, etc.    

It’s not my place to say whether this is good or bad. As self-censorship isn’t really censorship, it’s hard to argue that an artist willfully pulling their work from the marketplace is some sort of injustice. It’s their reputation (read: livelihood) after all. There are things I would probably delete/hide if anybody gave enough of a shit to do a deep dive into my past babblings. But while I certainly applaud the idealistic efforts to make a more welcoming society for all, it does kind of suck that it comes at the expense of comic mana such as Lethal Weapon 5 (and 6).   

At the risk of kicking dusty horse bones, this does boil the whole “cancel culture” debate down to one consideration: what is acceptable to laugh at?

Insert the podcast “Cum Town.” Starring the trio of Nick Mullen (the bitter one), Stravos Hilias (the bigger one), and Adam Friedland (the butler?), “Cum Town” is the least political of the “Dirtbag Left”* wave of offerings*. If you can’t tell by the name, “Cum Town” isn’t for the crowd that regularly uses the word “problematic.” Employing a fairly new media in the podcast, the three NY-based comics shoot the shit on pretty much all matters, keeping the atmosphere loose and the unapologetic laughs flowing. 

*Which also includes the hugely popular “Chapo Trap House” and “Red Scare,” shows that are both fairly funny... and can often be accurately described as  “permanently congested neck-beards talking tough about revolution or whatever in between rhapsodizing about time-old yet currently posh talking points (distribution of wealth, liberalism vs. leftism, etc.)”.

As bad as the Olivers and the Gadsbys of the world want to change your mind, the trio at “Cum Town” are much more focused on tickling your funny bone (and/or prostate). Its setup gives the show an air of Howard-Stern-in-the-90s danger, where things that probably should never be thought are said with glee. They’re the type of guys who find the humor in places that make others uncomfortable, such as the connection of the Clintons to Jeffrey Epstein’s murder or, in one particularly great skit, how Trump would undoubtedly try to smear Robert De Niro as a non-Italian homosexual.

Devoid of the pretension other “enlightened” modern comedy wears so proudly, the show can focus on being being funny in ways that spur a gut laugh, not a guffaw.   

“Cum Town” works because its as self-aware as it is fearless. These aren’t Andrew Dice Clays winding up the Islanders stadium with bits about “the brothers.” They’re not just reliving old Stern bits, asking alcoholic little people and other societal pariahs to make fools of themselves. The show wouldn’t work if it was merely “saying racial slurs with the EdgeLord Crowd.” "Cum Town” operates like a savvy boxer- throwing shots, usually at modern idols, knowing that it leaves them open to counter punches.

The genius of this approach is that they know what the counter punches will be (being called “racist,” “sexist,” “fascist,” etc.)... and have a counter-punch for that!* It’s not like it takes Ali-esque anticipatory vision to know what the criticisms will be. While calling a (probably white, cis-gender, straight) male “racist!” or “sexist!” or “fascist!” surely feels empowering to the counter-puncher, the reality is a lot of those terms have absolutely lost their meaning or the damaging heft that used to accompany their utterance. With the mass acceptance of systematic sexism/ racism as prevalent in everyday life, all the (bad) -isms are supposedly so ingrained into the white male psyche that they’re bigots no matter what. Especially when you consider that laughing- actual laughing- is more of a neurological reaction than a considered response. Put another way: a skit depicting Tony Soprano as an Indian may not confuse anybody into thinking Stav is on a first-name basis with Noam Chomsky, but it is infinitely funnier than all the “Donald Drumpf”s shouted together combined. 

*Sorry, Mike Tyson’s Punch Out is about the extent of my boxing knowhow. 

The show operates in a world where performance compassion is a hell of a lot worse than genuine feeling. Where Donald Trump gets mocked- but less so than Hillary Clinton, who’s president campaign’s attempt to make her “cool” was, let’s say, ill-fitting. It gets mean and nasty because comedy does. So, did Adam Friedland get called out by Chelsea Clinton for calling her ugly*? Yep. And many came to Chelsea’s defense calling for Adam’s sexist, disgusting head, I’m sure in only pro-Semitic ways. Does Nick’s archaic (though quite good) impressions of various ethnicities  to a certain trope? Or does Stav talking about pornography and getting ass with a somewhat slimy tone? The three “Cum Town” hosts know that the list of the “powerless” has changed considerably in the last few decades, and that those who pay service to liberal ideals should be mocked just like the rest of us. 

The tweet in question.

Juvenile? Sure. Insensitive? Yes. But God Dammit, isn’t humor supposed to be that way? If there’s a killer joke where the punch-line is “bigotry is bad,” I’m not aware of it. “Cum Town” generates a type of laughter that feels liberating- like you’re shaking off the oppressive scowl of a world that blames you- person who has been around for about one one billionth of the world’s life- for all its ills. The more modern society weighs us with new considerations on language and decorum, conjured rules that dictate what you may have a reaction to and what you may not, the funnier the humor in its opposition flies. Breaking rules is inherently funny- thumbing your nose at society is at the core of comedy’s release. And the more it becomes taboo to say words like “tranny,” “fat,” “dumb,” “midget,” etc., the more comedic release will be given when we say the words that I’m not going to type right here. Because the further the joke is from the norm, the more space there is for laughter to form.

Some believe this humor can lead to hatred which can lead to violence. That the Capitol’s riots were a warped result of the Rogans of the world. That by hearing Dave Chappelle say the n-word, white people will start to adopt it, and chaos will surely follow. But there’s another school of thought that says being able to laugh at something is the genesis of being able to process something and eventual acceptance. 

I realize this is hardly a surprising point from a straight white guy, one who has said (regretfully and not recently) on more than one occasion that “I don’t get offended, I don’t understand why others do?” But I also think that a lot of the “hurt” these societal infractions cause are more of a smokescreen or diversion from bigger problems. It’d be easier to distract people with discussions over whether James Bond should be black or if Dr. Seuss books featuring offensive illustrations should be banned as opposed to, I don’t know, actually try to combat some of the systematic problems that propagate systems that truly stun growth?  Telling people they should feel guilty about something is a slippery slope as we have around 8 billion people on earth, there’s plenty of misery to go around. We should all probably feel bad about something.

In conclusion, “Cum Town” knows that just because something is bad doesn’t mean it can’t be funny. As mentioned before, humor is often how people cope with the hypocritical, values-starved planet we find ourselves on. Humor should delight our soul, not display our sophistication.   

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s MODOK Trailer Reveals Weird Puppet Styling

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

I feel like we’ve come a long way in our acceptance of superhero concepts as a society. The X-Men movies were so reluctant to include giant robots until they were six movies in and to this day, we haven’t seen Wolverine wear his trademark yellow tights on the big screen. We’re ready for that now and we’re ready for Galactus and we’re ready for a space horse who can pick up Thor’s hammer and so on.

Even as the main villain of the new Avengers video game, MODOK is always going to be a hard sell. While he’s a fearsome foe, incredibly intelligent, and powerful, he’s also a funky-looking giant head with normal-sized limbs dangling around with little use. He’s the epitome of bizarre comic book designs and if you’re going to give him a spotlight, you’re going to need to think hard about how you’re going to portray him.

As a gigantic doof played by Patton Oswalt for a comedy TV show filmed in stop-motion? Sure, that’ll do.

At New York Comic Con, we finally got to dive headfirst into the upcoming Hulu series in a panel featuring co-creator/writer/executive producer Jordan Blum and the main cast: Patton Oswalt (MODOK), Aimee Garcia (MODOK’s wife), Ben Schwartz (MODOK’s son), and Melissa Fumero (MODOK’s daughter).

Plus it comes with two clips from the show.

MODOK tells the story of the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing/George Tarleton as he has to deal with his mad scientist organization Advanced Ideas Mechanics running out of money. AIM has no choice but to sell out to the corporation GRUMBLE and MODOK is put through the unfortunate hell of having to constantly alter his organization to meet executive mandates. Beck Bennett will play Austin Van Der Sleet, MODOK’s youthful new boss.

Meanwhile, we get to see MODOK’s family. Jodie is his shockingly normal-looking wife who feels that maybe MODOK would be better off leaving AIM to die so she can be the breadwinner. Their son Lou is also rather normal-looking due to being created in a lab. Then there’s daughter Melissa, who is also a giant levitating head levitating, but is also considered the most popular girl in her high school. Somehow.

Other characters involved include Wendi McLendon-Covey as Monica Rappaccini, MODOK’s work rival as well as Jon Daly as the Super-Adaptoid. Super-Adaptoid aspires to work on art and enjoy culture, but he’s constantly stuck having to serve MODOK.

Apparently, there’s also a “cool mailman.” I hope we get to see him one day.

Following the clips, there’s a nice little Q&A section in there where they discuss the characters and how much fun it was the make the show. One interesting bit is Oswalt noting that they were shocked to get away with using certain Marvel characters, including various X-Men-related heroes. Expect them to toss in a handful of obscure Marvel characters for the hell of it. Hey, if Harley Quinn can do so much with Kite Man, then when in Rome!

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

There’s still no concrete release date, but expect to see MODOK on Hulu early next year.

The post Marvel’s MODOK Trailer Reveals Weird Puppet Styling appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[lesmotsincompris]

Thoughts on GoT S07E06

Since everybody was discussing the leaks, I decided to watch the leaked episode and almost forgot to post my thoughts here as usual.

Anyway: that was terrible, y’all. That was a whole new level of terrible.

The show was awful long before this, of course, but I think this episode perfectly encapsulates how poorly written it can be. Every scene has a lot to tear apart, but let’s try to keep it short:

Winterfell

Oh boy, did that hurt. What D&D have done to Arya isn’t simply character assassination; they murdered her character, shat on the corpse, set the poop on fire, and put the fire out with vomit.

Arya’s lines during this episode seem to come from an anti-Sansa thread on Reddit. It’s so viciously misogynystic and victim-blaming that I’m losing all respect for fans that buy this kind of bullshit reasoning (and I’ve seen them with my own eyes).

Again knitting is brought in a negative context. Again Sansa is called stupid. Again Sansa is portrayed as an ambitious bitch because she didn’t act as the ideal victim is supposed to act. Again Sansa’s forced marriages are used against her. Again we have another reminder that Sansa was raped, because gods forbid we forget it. This isn’t dealing with trauma, this is rubbing in the audience’s faces one of the most hated scenes of this show.

It’s ridiculously out of continuity too. Everything Arya herself did to survive is ignored (hanging out with Tywin on season 2, anyone?). Also she couldn’t possibly think her sister helped the Lannisters get rid of Ned, she was fucking there. If she saw Sansa’s pretty hair and dress, she must have seen her crying and screaming in despair. Watch your own damn show, D&D!

Once more I must ask: what is Littlefinger still doing in this story? He’s trying to put Arya against Sansa, but why? What does he gain with that? Why is Sansa still listening to him? You can’t give me Sansa being snarky at him in one episode and fully trusting him in another, it just doesn’t make sense.

Sansa was rude to Brienne for no reason, and sent her away purely because D&D needed Sansa alone and unprotected in Winterfell again. It’s so forced it hurts.

Apparently Jon didn’t give any news in weeks. Great job, Jon. But hey, couldn’t they use their fucking omniscient robot brother to see what stupidity Jon was up to this time?

I was giggling during the entire briefcase scene, not even The Room can aspire to be this bad.

Dragonstone

“Heroes do stupid things and they die” is the supreme maxim of Grimdark™. It’s also clearly not what GRRM is going for in the books.

We had a scene with the sole purpose of delivering exposition that Jon is in love with Dany. Is he? Why would he be? What evidence have we seen of this? Oh no, but it’s a lot easier to have a character established as "clever" saying "he loves you" than actually showing the process of two people falling in love.

For all their speech abut sparing the innocent, Tyrion says they’ll burn King’s Landing if anyone touches Dany. See, the smallfolk are only important if they bend the knee, otherwise they can die. So much for wheel-breaking.

(we still don’t know what that means, btw)

Again Tyrion tells Dany what to do and how to act; I’m gonna stab with a knitting needle anyone that calls this show feminist. I don’t think Tyrion is wrong in everything he says, but having him mansplaining Dany constantly is annoying. If he “believes” her, why doesn’t he let her to think on her own? If he doesn’t trust her to do it, then why does he follow her?

I can’t blame Dany for being hostile to the whole succession talk. Yes, it’s an important matter, and one book!Dany still has to address, but it came very suddenly and when they had other more important matters to deal with.

Tyrion doesn’t want Dany to go and she goes, and again the narrative will prove Dany wrong for not listening to a man. Fuck this show.

Beyond the Wall

Aaah, le crap de le crap. Don’t get me wrong, Winterfell stuff made me roll my eyes so hard I could watch my own brain cells dying. But Winterfell was filler, while this is supposed to be the big moment, the “go go go, shock shock shock” we’ve been told about, the core of the wham episode of this season.

And it sucks.

Tormund says that smart people don’t go looking for the dead, and I have to agree with him. The whole plan of capturing a wight and touring it around Westeros was incredibly stupid to begin with, so it’s hard to feel bad for the characters when things go inevitably wrong.

Less than five minutes into this episode they were already joking about Gendry being assaulted by Melisandre. Fuck this show.

Gendry being sold to Melisandre, much like Tyrion killing Davos’ son with wildfire, becomes a “look, those characters know each other” gag. This is a very poor choice and ignores the fact that those characters met under traumatic circumstances that deserve a stronger reaction than that.

Of course you don’t hear Beric “bitching” about being killed six times, that would mean death and trauma carry any weight and in this show they don’t. Not anymore.

I’ve been complaining for a while that the show seems to have forgotten why Jorah was exiled, so they answered me with him admitting Ned was right. That’s great, it would have been a significant character development… if we had actually seen it. Character development is a character going from point A to point B, not suddenly being on point B with no indication of how they got there.

Then Jon says he’s glad Ned didn’t catch Jorah. Why? Does Jon knows that Jorah was exiled for selling people? Is Jon okay with that? Since when? He barely knows Jorah and no relationship was portrayed on screen before this moment, why this sudden concern with him?

Sandor says he hates gingers, which is another nail in the SanSan coffin for the show. We already that’s D&D’s NOTP, but the petty ways they find to demonstrate it always amuse me.

I joked about this being the Ultimate Bro Trip - All the Extras Edition, but boy I was right. There’s everything one could expect from this sort of event: sexual assault played for laughs, dick jokes, the most disgusting reference to Tormund x Brienne, heavy-handed hints of R+L=J, lots of walking for nothing, lots of shitting all over GRRM’s careful worldbuilding, lots of dudes bonding over stuff that makes me hate them as characters, poorly executed action with no real stakes. A true winner!

There are small things that worked for me. I kinda like Beric’s speech to Jon, or Sandor turning around when they burn Thoros’ wound. It’s a simple but effective way to remind the viewer of Sandor’s trauma. It doesn’t cost much in terms of dialogue or screentime, and keeps the character consistent and fleshed-out. But those were isolated moments, and isolated moments are not enough to save us from this torture of a scene.

I like the surprise element of the bear attack, but it was too shaky and confusing for my taste. Gendry says the bear has blue eyes, but I could hardly see the bear itself? And how can I care about characters dying if I can’t even see who’s dying? After some point it was The Revenant - Westeros edition, and still not the silliest scene in the episode.

The white walkers now die like vampires from Buffy and one stab is enough to finish them. Worse, they’re following the route of 'kill the boss, every minion dies’. I hate this trope, I’m sure there’s a name for it. It’s particularly bad in this case because now the white walkers’ impressive numbers don’t mean anything; just kill the extra blue dude with a vaguely Japanese armor and presto! Also, you know, it contradicts what we’ve seen so far including in this very episode.

Despite them walking for ages, Gendry goes back to Eastwatch pretty fast. The white walkers are kind enough to wait for no fucking reason while Gendry sends a raven, the raven reaches Dragonstone, Dany gets ready, and Dany flies to the Wall and beyond. This should have taken weeks, but apparently it happens over a day or so.

Look, when people talk about ‘teleportation’ in this show, we don’t mean that the writers must depict every beat of the trip. We mean that the trip needs to make sense considering everything we know about the setting and the resources available in that world. It doesn’t have to be super accurate either, just not physically impossible like this was.

The white walkers not attacking the group makes the previous Plot Armor evolve to a Plot AT Field from Evangelion. If there was going to be battle anyway, why the waiting? You’re already bending space and time for Daenerys to arrive, so I’m sure there would be better ways to have the ice dragon scene without all this contrivance.

The dragon saving scene would have been awesome if not for all the implausibility that led to it. It’s hard to be invested when you’re already angry and disappointed. The contrivances don’t stop there, and Jon takes two levels in stupidity and keeps fighting all macho when everybody else is safe on dragon back. Also Daenerys loves him for some reason.

That spear throwing was the funniest thing. Congrats to whoever did the dragon animations and noises, though, that was a great job. Emilia Clarke’s nearly-crying face would have been a great start for one of Daenerys’ more emotional moments in the show, watching the death of one of her children. Too bad this is basically all the reaction she’s allowed to have.

Jon got Viserion killed out of sheer stupidity and stubbornness, but somehow Dany loves him even more for that! She wants to wait for him, even if that endangers her other dragons. Back at the Wall, she waits for his return, not perhaps a sign of Viserion. When he apologizes for being the worst, she’s not remotely angry at him. It was “good” that her dragon died, because now she understands. Now she knows that in this show men are always right and women pay a dear price for not listening to them.

Can’t see the narrative goal of leaving Jon behind or him falling in the water. Nobody actually expected him to die, even if he should have. Then you have Uncle Benjen Ex Machina holding thousands of White Walkers on his own, as if that somehow prevents a few of them from going after Jon. This whole scene accomplished nothing but stretching our suspension of disbelief further, as if there was any left at this point.

The walkers somehow put chains on the dragon to pull it. Why not just make the dragon fall on land? Viserion returning could have been cool if: a) it wasn’t a product of a conga line of plot contrivances; b) they didn’t take four years to show us his eyes opening, as if this wasn’t ridiculously obvious.

Daenerys can’t mourn her fucking dragon, she’s too busy finding the Ultimate Man to Listen To. What prompts Jon to decide that Dany is now his queen? Why does he call her Dany? How does Dany know the Night’s King name?

More importantly, why do I still care to ask about all this questions when the answer is “D&D are fucking dumb and they’re hoping we are too”?

Extra notes

Should we start printing Euron’s picture in milk boxes? And what happened to Theon?

Fuck this show, fuckindammit, that was a lot of time and energy wasted just to get angry.

[nightinngales]

Lol I love how people who arent jon fans always know his character better than his so-called fans. They say that he'll fight for Dany for the throne when he learns about rhaegar. It doesn't matter if we are seeing them start a relationship, or that Jon told Dany that the targaryen don't have a claim on the throne, or even that he said he doesn't like or wants to lead, that's insignificant. Oh and all westeros will love him because he isn't the "mad king daughter" ignoring that he's the grandson.

all of westeros wouldn’t love him because, aside from a flimsy annulment, there is no definitive proof that jon is legitimate. jon’s spent his entire life as a bastard, has served on the wall with criminals, has brought the wildlings south, and has no political ties to any major houses in the south whatsoever. jon might have the allegiance of the north, but he has absolutely zero pull in the south, where most of the noble houses remain. if he did want to take the throne, he’d need to marry dany to legitimize his claim in the eyes of the people and other houses. if you’re talking about politics and throne claims, jon’s claim might be more legit than dany’s on paper, but the kingdoms would likely not just roll over and accept him as a “true king” just due to that. anyone can forge an old scroll, and people would bend over backwards to deny his legitimacy in general, and this is not even considering westeros’ general reluctance to accept a targaryen on the throne again after the mad king. this is also not considering the fact that many other houses with legitimate, eligible sons would likely try to court dany to win her hand in marriage, and would denounce jon’s claim just for their own gains, regardless of however true it might be. 

the people who believe that jon will fight dany for the throne have clearly been watching a completely different show than we have. jon didn’t even want to be the night commander. he had power handed to him, and he accepted it--reluctantly, and iirc, did he not try to hand it off once he had the time and ability to do so? jon has never aspired to have any kind of power or be a ruler. what jon wanted most in the beginning of the series was acceptance. he didn’t want to be bowed to. he didn’t want people to swear fealty to him. he just wanted people to see him as worthy, to look beyond the fact that he was a bastard, and to see who he was as a man rather than what he was. and for those who reference the scene of jon telling dany he’s a king--correct me if i’m wrong, but when has he ever said something like that to anyone but her, in a single scene where she tried to leverage her station as queen against him? he didn’t throw that line at her because he wants to fight her. he said that because it was his way of telling her she had no authority over him. 

not to mention, jon finding out he’s a targaryen and then suddenly wanting the throne makes zero sense if you consider the past six seasons of the show. jon, if he’s kept in character and they don’t completely retcon all his development, would find out he has a claim to the throne and then immediately rescind it himself. he would deny it. he would say he doesn’t want the throne, that he’s never wanted anything to do with ruling over people, that he just wants the war to end, for his people to be safe, and for him to go home to his family. that’s all he’s ever wanted. jon and ned stark are strikingly similar in that way, and that’s clearly intentional from the very beginning of the show, and it’s baffling to me that so many people misunderstand a character they’ve had over six years to learn--and that’s if we’re only counting the show.

anyway disclaimer: i don’t hate jon in case anyone was wondering, i’m fairly neutral on him. i think he’s fairly bland and predictable as your typical “reluctant hero” archetype, but he is one of the good guys. so, you know. godspeed and all that

[mdwatchestv]

Game of Thrones 7x04: Fewer

At the risk of sounding like a youth imposter, this Sunday was lit af. Last week I was feeling uncertain about the hurtling pace of the show, usually Game of Thrones is a lot of positioning and plotting culminating in a major battle set piece (Hardhome, Battle of the Bastards), and the beginning of this season saw many decisive skirmishes gone through relatively quickly. After this episode my concerns have been mostly assuaged. Westeros is now a world truly at war and the structure of the episodes have shifted to reflect that. And this Sunday when the time for the REALLY meaningful battle arrived it delivered with bells and dragons on. So with those fears safely burnt to a crisp, let's get into what was a pretty kickass episode.

Besides getting to see the dragons in action there is another event that fans have been long awaiting, and that is Stark Reunion. For so long my fondest wish was for any Stark to be with any other Stark. Arya's continued near misses of her family members concluding in her hysterical laughter outside the gates of The Eyrie was the audible personification of the desperation of this wish. A wish that was finally partially filled by Sansa and Jon's reunion at the end of last season, and then soured by the return of Bran the Three-Eyed Asshole. But low, this episode finally saw Arya returning to Winterfell, a home she has not seen since sallying forth with her father all the way back in season one. Arya's homecoming is one of mixed emotions, she is a stranger to the current occupants of the keep, and although much of her home has stayed the same, Arya herself is deeply changed. In fact I was terrified she would rabbit before being able to see her sister again, but thankfully girlfriend stuck around. Until this point I believed it was a real possibility Arya would never see another Stark again, and if she did it would more than likely have been Jon on the battlefield and not her long estranged sister. So what a happy surprise to see these two young women reunited in their family home, still sad though that no one will give Sansa a proper hug (I will hug you Sansa my ginger angel).  As girls Sansa and Arya didn't see eye to eye, Arya was interested in fighting while Sansa aspired to be a Lady (and possibly Queen). Now as women they have both achieved these goals, although their paths to those identities was not what they would ever have imagined.. They have both been forced to grow up, faced hard truths, made horrific choices, and in this they are able to find common ground. Or to put it more simply: game recognize game. And while they still may not be able to agree on everything, they can both agree that Bran is a fucking cock stick who deserves to be wheelbarrowed out of town and dumped in a haystack.

Unfortunately Bran had to execute some plot stuff this episode so we have to talk about him. First  he cruelly gives Meera Reed, the girl who literally dragged his Raven ass all the way to The Wall, the boot. She is less than pleased. Honestly why do we need the Three Eyed Raven anyway? What is his function truly? He doesn't seem to be doing very much beyond withholding the valuable information that I'm pretty sure Meera's dad also knows (he's still alive right?) Anyway the Previously On reminded us of the attempt on Bran's life in season one, and the bizarrely unique dagger used in it. If only the assailant had been successful all those years ago. If you recall the dagger belonged to Littlefinger who said he lost it to Tyrion, leading Cat to imprison Tyrion at The Eyrie, and essentially setting off the events of the series. It's a dagger so loaded down with plot and meaning it's a wonder anyone can pick it up. Littlefinger gives the dagger back to Bran perhaps in an attempt to ingratiate himself? Motives unclear. Bran fires back by quoting Littlefinger "Chaos is a ladder." Littlefinger doesn't know what to do with that, but pretty sure Bran is on to him. If you need a refresher on Littlefinger's awesome "Chaos is a ladder" speech from season 3, you can hear it in my favorite GOT promo here (the shots of which are eerily reminiscent of the scene itself). What I want to know is if Bran is all knowing now, how come he doesn't know who tried to kill him? Not so smart now are we?

Bran doesn't care about worldly things anymore like daggers, friends, or common human decency, so he goes ahead and gives the dagger to Arya. Which is fine, because as previously established, Arya deserves gifts and treats. But this is a potentially important plot moment because the dagger in question is made of Valyrian steel aka the rarest and most bestest steel. It is most notably important in the series because, as Jon discovered, Valyrian steel can take down a White Walker. So specifically arming Arya with White Walker kryptonite is an extremely exciting development and hints she may have a pivotal role in the war to come. In case you were wondering who else is wandering around with Valyrian swords, and I know you were, here is a list of who is packing the special steel: Jaime Lannister (we just saw he has Joffrey's sword 'Widow's Wail' one of two swords melted down from Ned Stark's great sword), Brienne (she has 'Oathkeeper' given to her by Jaime also made from the Ned sword), Jon Snow (who took 'Longclaw' from the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch [who was also Ser Jorah's dad]) and finally Samwell Tarley of all people (who stole his dad's sword 'Heartsbane' on his way outta town). After typing all that I'm now filled with despair over how much I know about this show. Some people are doctors, some people are scientists, I am a professional television watcher.

Things are cooking up pretty nicely in Winterfell, which makes me horribly suspicious that something terrible is going to shortly befall my little Starks. But for now we are also getting the Brienne/Arya mentorship/spar that we have been waiting for all of our lives. Sansa also rolls by and sees her kid sister has transformed into a well-honed killing machine. Even though the Starks are finally back in Winterfell, even they can never really go home again.

Over at Dragonstone Jon has discovered some cave carvings and drawings of White Walkers that he DEFINITELY didn't scribble in to convince Dany to help him. Dany says she will aid the North if only Jon will bend the knee, but he is just not gonna. I mean it wouldn't be the first time he got on his knees for a lady in a cave ayyyyyyyyy (but seriously guys, she is his aunt and inbreeding amongst Targaryens is what landed us in this mess). Upon exiting the cave Dany is greeted with the knowledge that Tyrion's plans have once again failed. Frustrated and eager to join the fight Dany appeals to Jon (of all people) for advice. He actually gives a pretty articulate speech warning Dany not to be the new boss just like the old boss. She listens to him, considers, and then jumps on Drogon and goes to blast the shit out of some Lannisters.

WHICH BRINGS US TO THE Loot.. Train.. Battle. Are we really married to that name? Whatever, let's just call it Dragon Destructo-Fest 2k17. Woooo! Jaime and Bronn are rolling their gold into King's Landing after the successful raid of Hightower. The Lannisters always pay their debts, what could possibly go wrong? When suddenly a mighty rumble is heard! And what could it be??? It's the Dothraki Hoard and they are here to fuck you up, standing up on their horses (!!!) and preparing to rain down crazy death on the Lannister army. As Jaime is changing into his red shirt and brown pants, a shadow falls across the land. The time has finally come, for dragon combat. And it is glorious. We have watched little Drogon grow from a wee hatchling, to a teenaged goat burner, and finally now to a force of ultimate destruction. Seeing that column of fire blast from the heavens set our own hearts ablaze with red hot pride.

Not only was it thrilling to see the dragon finally utilized in combat, but having his adversaries also be beloved characters upped the stakes. Bronn's consistent charisma makes him one of the only characters I would support landing a strike against one of Dany's Trio of Terror, and being faced with his potential demise was extremely distressing. And I'm sure some of you are tired of Jaime, but I have always found him a compelling character. In the fantasy world of Game of Thrones he is the archetypal white knight, and even though he has lots of sex with his twin sister, and kicked Bran out the window (pretty defensible at this point), he still largely adheres to knightly principles. In any other story square-jawed, blonde-haired, endlessly brave Jaime would be the hero. But here on Game of Thrones Jaime is jerked around, chopped up, and often rendered powerless. It's an interesting dichotomy, one strikingly rendered by Jaime's suicidal charge at Dany. Tyrion silently pleads with Jaime to be a coward for once, to turn and flee, knowing that he never would.

Thankfully Bronn is true-blue and knocked Jaime out of the dragon fire and into the drowning water. But despite the ominous fade to black and silent credits (feel like GOT is over-deploying the silent credits), I strongly doubt this is the end of Jaime Lannister. Jaime needs to live long enough to fully play out his tragic hero story, he needs to either kill Cersei or die by her hand. But what WILL be interesting to see is if he now becomes the prisoner of the Dragon Queen and company. This would be an interesting development as it would reunite the two brothers as well as Bronn with his original master. Whether Jaime could be turned against Cersei (doubtful) remains to be seen, but this would at least hold the promise of some intense scene work. 

Overall this episode was Game of Thrones at its very best. It had incredible payoffs in the form of both long awaited reunions and total dragon destruction. It reminded us not to take any characters, no matter how long we have spent by their sides, for granted and that any one of them is one “dracarys” away from immolation. This episode made me feel real and deep panic over the knowledge that this show is rapidly approaching its end, and that the unfolding events are in service of a final, inevitable conclusion. For now though let us savor every moment of Stark joy, every ember gushing forth from Drogon’s mouth, every brilliant supporting character whose lives hang in the balance. For one day this luminous sprawling show will end, leaving a hole in my brain space and in my Sunday nights. Valar Morghulis. 

Things I didn't get to:

Missandei hangs around Dragonstone like a NPC

Alfie Allen is acting it up 

MANY Things

Dickon lol 

MVP: Drogon 

DRACARYS MD

PS Bonus Acting Gif:

[furederiko]

He's your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man...

I initially thought I would not get a chance to see this at the theatres. So I felt somewhat lucky that I've been fortunate enough to see it yesterday, on the first viewing, of its premiere day(although I had to skip the 3D due to the ticket price)! Unfortunately, it wasn't that good of an experience, unpleasant even. I mean, that's what I got when I pre-ordered a ticket late in the game: I had to sit really close to the giant screen. I'm feeling the result now... exhausted watery eyes and stiff neck. Also, it's currently still school holiday, so I was seated between teenagers and kids who... either couldn't stop chomping food loudly, kept asking questions throughout the movie, or... just didn't have proper ethiquette towards older people. Gosh, that awkward moment made me feel really 'old' and 'out of place'. Thankfully, the movie itself was the complete opposite to that annoying real life situation. So in a way, well worth the patience I had to endure during the screening. Okay, enough chit-chat, let's get to the review now!

NOTE: This is a spoiler-free review. At the very least, it was written with that thought and intention in mind. So there's still a possibility that it contains some implicit spoilers. With that said, feel free to proceed cautiously, okay! *wink*

They should've called this SPECTACULAR Spider-Man. Seriously. Because it's indeed one! A movie that felt small and stand-alone, but firmly incorporated the titular character VERY nicely in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Afterall, that's what 'Homecoming' is all about, right? The movie began following the aftermath of 2012's "The Avengers", it then picked up right in the middle of last year's "Captain America: Civil War" for a brief minutes (featuring some fantastic larger-than-life cameos), before it became its own thing following the conclusion of that amazing Berlin Airport scene. And then several months later...

There's an honest good reason why Marvel Studios appointed Tom Holland as the new Peter Parker. And that's because it's going to be extremely hard to picture anyone else but him to embody both Peter and Spider-Man after seeing this movie. As proven over and over again with their movies, the studio certainly isn't messing around when it comes to casting. Holland IS Peter (not to mention a striking resemblance to young Stan Lee), and that's just one of the key ingredients that made this movie so captivating. There's an earnest youth-innocence exuberating from this version. An excitement that we haven't seen in both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's version. Not saying both were bad (theirs got pushed to adulthood too soon, I say, thanks to the actors being much older), but this one got the personality of comic book Peter in the most perfect way. Also, have I mentioned that Holland is HOT? He's so easy on the eyes, that I wouldn't doubt his Peter would make anyone (men or women, young or old) swoon. Assuming I got my memory right, I think he and his six-pack were the lenghties shirtless fan-service scene of all MCU movies so far. Thank goodness the actor's 21 years old now, otherwise that sentiment would sound really inappropriate. Pheew!

He's Peter in the most charming and geekiest way. Smart, sweet, sometimes overwhelmingly curious, but also an underdog who is ridiculed at school. Who once again reminded you, that hey, nerds CAN be true heroes too! Yes, that's the best of all! Just like the deepest inner desire that some of us shared, he's just THAT eager to become a hero. He's a dreamer, who looked up to the Avengers, and wanted to do good to be among their ranks. But being 15 years old, a student in a high school, things weren't as easy as one might think. When he has classes and after school programmes, would he even have time to be a crime fighting hero? One that placed his life on the line numerous time, while deep inside, still struggling with the sensibilities and struggles of growing up? That's what this movie succeeded to explore, making it feel... 'different' to the previous MCU movies.

The supporting characters, were also fantastic. Marisa Tomei's May Parker, was more of a sexy older sister than an elderly aunty. It's a modern change that felt just right for her, especially in this era of feminism. But as always, she was also Peter's emotional anchor. Particularly in one scene that... well, I'm not spoiling anything, but let's just say, had Holland showcased his specialty in moving dramatic performance. Those who had seen "The Impossible" would know, that Holland could really made it possible. On the other side of the table, Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark played out as the kind of mentor, big brother, or surrogate father that Peter aspired to. Peter tried so hard to please his good side, and in a way, that's one of his focus in this movie. That's why his presence could be felt looming around the background. Contrary to what people assumed though, Tony wasn't in the movie that much. It was Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan who actually spent more screentime and connection with Peter. So nope, before you accuse Stark of stealing another character's movie, that's not the case. He had just about right amount of screen time, and the movie was wholly Peter's from start to end.

Jacob Batalon's Ned was a charming chubby sidekick. He's as excited as Peter, and shared a sweet chemistry with him that would make you wish you're their best friend too. Not trying to sound racist, but it's nice that we're getting another support character that's not black. I mean, that's certainly a pattern in the first two Phase of the MCU, right? Laura Harrier's Liz was the love interest, who as always, ended up becoming a damsel in distress at some point in the movie. Zendaya's Michelle on the other hand, was the weird girl who's out and about, and seemed to be tailing Peter for... unknown personal reason. She didn't have much to do, but likely because she's being set up for expanded involvement in the sequel(s). Tony Revolori's Flash was Pete's bully, but not in the way you think. He's a modern-type 'hater' who harrassed people with words and attitude, and not through muscle. And then there were other minor characters, filling up the school as either students (Abraham Attah, Tiffany Espensen, Michael Barbieri, etc) or teachers (Martin Starr, Selenis Leyva, Hannibal Buress, Kenneth Choi, etc), building up a truly diverse looking environment. It might feel like a crowded cast, but really, most of them only had small participation in this movie. But you know what I really love about the portrayal of this high school? That in a technology-based MCU, science IS the cool thing. For crying out loud, even the cool kids were the smart achiever ones, and the Academic Decathlon's its MVP! Unlike the typical high schools we saw in various TV shows (filled with actors sometimes too old to be students), this one personally felt more at home. Looking familiarly similar to the place I've went to all those years ago, it sure didn't take a while before nostalgia slowly kicked in.

One might argue that the villains weren't really 'that threatening' here. Particularly the Shockers: Logan Marshall-Green's Jackson Brice and/or Bokeem Woodbine's Herman Schultz. They felt like lower-tier 'bad guys', especially when compared to say... Ultron, or Loki, with their global-level annihilation ambitions. Nevertheless, Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes was a truly intimidating antagonist, who would conquer the scene with his chilling presence. He firmly sit as one of the best MCU antagonist we got so far, just NOT the way you might think. In a strangely relatable way, situation somehow forced him to be one, placing him on the other side of the law. Not just him, but his crew as well, because most of them couldn't even be considered 'evil'. There's a moral ambiguity of why Toomes did what he did, an amazing angle that made him different to previous bad guys. You'll particularly see about this during the third arc. I sure would love to see more of him in the future, but Keaton's only contracted for one movie so far. Beside, without being too oblivious, there's a high possiblity that Michael Mando's character will be taking that spotlight in the sequel. Likely alongside Michael Chernus' Phineas Mason, who was the technical-brain of the Vulture.

Thanks to these antagonists, the action-pieces, while making such grandiose spectacles as usual, felt different this time around. It was intense, nervewracking, and many other emotions I couldn't describe. Surprisingly, it put me on the edge of my seat most of the time, due to how personal and sometimes intimate they were. There's a desperation in these scenes that made my heart racing, a sensation that strangely reminded me of that last battle on "Civil War". Perhaps because this Spider-Man is young, and that he made honest mistakes that led him into trouble instead? Or because his life and those around him was truly put in jeopardy every single time, as if jumping straight into a tank full of sharks? A real sense of danger? I couldn't tell. One thing for sure, you might think you've seen it all from the trailers (which are still best avoided, IMHO), but there's way more to that. I can assure you, the complete sequences were still unexpected and shocking to watch.

In the end, just like James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" that arrived three months ago, the sensation of "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was a little difficult to properly describe. Both movies had some jokes and humors that didn't land with the audience I was with, but mostly because they were lost in translation. "Vol. 2" felt personal to me, but "Homecoming" also felt relatable in many ways. It's all kinds of emotions, a roller-coaster as one would expect from an MCU movie. And this movie was a down-to-earth adventure for the web slinger, that's still loaded with plenty of surprises one after another, big or small. It even saved one really GOOD one at the closing minutes of the movie!

Devoted Marvel fans will be thrilled with how Spider-Man is perfectly captured, while gleefully scavenging those many easter eggs sprinkled throughout the movie. Ones that connected to the larger MCU, or those teasing what might be coming ahead (Angourie Rice's Betty Brant and Donald Glover's Aaron Davis, to name a few). Meanwhile, general audience will be delighted to see this, as a genuine high school movie disguised as a superhero one. A coming-of-age movie, where its lead character learns to deal with the challenges of being young, his lack of experience, responsibilities of being a hero, and the cost of trying to do good. As shown by Peter's powerful decisions in several key scenes of the third arc, it's also a movie that reminded its young (both by age or at heart) viewers to never lose sight of what's important: kindness and compassion. All I can tell is, that director Jon Watts truly nailed this movie, and now I can't wait to see him progressing with the same 'everyday hero' magic in the upcoming sequel (set for 2019).

The collaboration between Marvel Studios and SONY to include Peter Parker in the MCU was like a dream come true to Marvel fans. More than that, it truly has been proven to be THE right decision. Here's hoping they will further extend this wonderful deal to the future, because I honestly feel, Spider-Man is where he's supposed to be. HOME...

Overall Score: 8,5 out of 10 PS: It's common sense for an MCU movie, that there will be post-credit scenes. And as publicly reported, this movie had two, with one of them teasing for the sequel. That second one, though?! Dang it... it's a sweet 'cap off' that will leave you smiling as you walk out of the theatres. Seriously, don't miss out on that! LOL.

This review had gone through minor adjustments and corrections to make some points clearer on July 6th, 2017, 09:10AM (local time).

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup

Basically this week came along and went “you know what, Rena really needs a pick me up” and it delivered pretty much a little bit of everything that I love and then just kept on giving. It was a fantastic, exciting, and enjoyable time reading every one of these and I’m excited to just jump right into it!

Viz’s My Hero Academia, DC’s Superman, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One

Viz’s My Hero Academia (2014- ) Vol. 8 Kōhei Horikoshi

I don’t know if I’ve ever included manga on the Roundups before now, I know I have anime. Regardless, if you had to guess before, no guesses now because I absolutely adore My Hero Academia and keeping up with the manga publishing has only deepened that love.

It’s one of the most beautiful, surprising superhero stories I’ve read and I just am so blown away by the detail and heart put into every moment of it. Izuku continues to be one of the most inspiring takes on a superhero I’ve ever seen and watching him grow to surpass, in some ways, even his mentor has felt just right. 

There’s also the perfect balance of growing tension with the League of Villains and the ever growing unsettling nature of Shigaraki balanced with the lessening of the antagonism with Izuku and Katsuki. And seeing how Izuku inspires all of his classmates every day -- it blows me away, quite literally.

That being said... the sexual politics are about on par with every other shonen out there which is... not great. There can be standout characters, of course, but exceptions don’t make the rules, and especially since the teenage girls are pretty much all naked in one page of this volume... that doesn’t get better. Unsurprising considering that the creator has said before that he considers himself a pervert and likens himself to Mineta who gets a whole subplot dedicated in this volume to how his aspirations of being a hero in order to “get chicks” is literally enough to propel him to the same accolades as his fellow Class A students. I get it’s humorous but every time we waste time on Mineta and the gross womanizer subplots every volume I think of how we could be spending that time with Asui or even Uraraka. 

Overall this is just another stellar volume, and actually introduces us and Izuku to the concept of people in the world who don’t like heroes for good reason. It’s very interesting and I am excited to see how we dive into these things more deeply in the future. 

DC’s Superman (2016- ) #22 Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Wil Quintana

Now this is the Lois Lane action story I think we all deserve!

Sincerely, I really love this issue and I’m so grateful that after years of being poorly treated like Lois has been, she is back in full force and given so much to do as well. Like how she takes on the entire town on her own and solves the big mystery of the town being fake whereas Mister World’s Greatest Detective is in some kinda... tube. Thing. 

So this issue is amazing because it’s a great Lois Lane issue, but I also am really appreciating what this storyline is doing overall, too.

This is a reexamination of the hokey, too-good-to-be-true Smallville setup that the original Superboy (Clark) grew up in, and bringing into question how mechanized and falsified that old American Dream kind of is. It’s as artificial as anything else, and the people who profess to support “family values” and putting “the child first” -- in this case Jon -- might not have the family’s wellbeing at heart after all. 

Or perhaps I’m reading too much into it due to my own experiences with the so-called American Hometown. We’ll have to wait for the next issue to see for sure ; ) 

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011- ) #69 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco, Ronda Pattison

Look, if you’re not reading Teenage Mutant Ninja TUrtles and you call yourself a comic fan, you’ve gotta reevaluate because I cannot, I repeat, I cannot express enough how blown away I am by the fact that we’re 69 issues into a comic and we’re still just as surprising, still just as character-driven, still just as competent and comprehensive as we are. 

I mean, really what else is there to say about a comic that literally cannot be stopped? Which continues to raise stakes even after saving the world from interdimensional aliens already.... TWICE? 

It’s all in the delivery, of characters and of their arcs along with the fact that every character is fleshed out so that you feel the humanity even in the characters who do the nastiest, evilest things you can imagine in the issue.

AND there is a character named after Sally Ride. AND there is an adorable pink dinosaur pet. AND you almost cry for poor Slash (or if you’re a GOOD person you DEFINITELY cry).

Everything’s awesome and we’re just halfway through this story. Which is even more awesome. Every arc of TMNT just delivers and I love it. 

IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One (2016- ) #9 Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente

This issue was kind of a revelation for me. Like, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed TAAO up to this point, make no mistake. Sometimes I like it more than even Lost Light and MTMTE right toward the end of its run. But one thing that has always kind of taken me unawares is that I’m not entirely certain about the characterization for Starscream. 

I honestly have missed the more petty, unreasonable, and downright villainous Starscream we all know and love. And it’s been interesting but also somewhat hard to understand where his development was going. Like not even Megatron could believe Starscream would maintain his power through anything but lies and ruthlessness.

And in this issue, we finally get our answer. 

I’m genuinely surprised that Windblade seems to actually be dead, but we’ll see if that’s as it appears. After all, she’s a popular, fan voted character. But at the same time I can’t help but wonder where else her character’s direction could go. 

Elita One is fantastic and I also really enjoyed the Mistress of Flames. There’s just so many great characters, I adore it. 

It’s such a fascinating development and I’m really excited to follow Chromia and Cyberton now. 

I honestly loved everything I read today and for once didn’t have to dive into huge criticisms on just about anything other than my general feelings toward My Hero Academia’s sexual politics. And even then that feels like something so small compared to the greater whole of the read, and that can be said for all the comics I’m featuring today.

But my pick for best of the week has to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This comic continues to impress, to shock, and to awe me with damn near every issue. I could not be happier every time I read it!

But that’s just me, what are your thoughts on today’s pull? Any comics I didn’t pick up you love? I’d love to know!

[theworstbob]

scattered thoughts on anw9 stage one part one

because the best time to post about american ninja warrior is six days after the episode airs right (all stats from my index, which is a combination of sasukepedia and my own notes)

~So after a year in which a lot of talented dudes got dunked on by the Giant Log Grip, the producers... Removed the Giant Log Grip? I mean, I get it -- the general vibe of ANW courses is something like “bars ‘n tramps,” so the Double Dipper and the Domino Pipes are a better fit for that theme than everything that came before. (Plus, given how Ultimate Beastmaster themed its course, I wouldn’t be surprised if ANW is trying to make its courses fit into a theme; I could see them trying to turn the courses into construction sites, simply because construction workers fit into some vaguely American ideal of hard work.) This is one of the more enjoyable iterations of the First Stage in a while. (Might this be a death knell for the Rolling Log in city courses? Because real talk, the American Rolling Log is garbage. Too much rolling, not enough log. I don’t like seeing an extra 30 seconds being tacked onto runs because competitors have to recover from goddamned dizziness.)

~I do wish they’d make it shorter, though! 2:35 is a long time to be on a course, and in this episode, we saw a lot of montaged runs and a lot of segments where we only watched one person take to the course between commercial breaks. We miss a lot of the First Stage, and we even see a few clears not mentioned at all until the end of the broadcast, and interesting clears at that! Andrew Lowes, a highly notable veteran, clears the First Stage for the first time since ANW6! Cass Clawson, three years after missing Stage Two by a fraction of a second, finally gets his revenge! Michael Silenzi makes his Stage Two debut after four years away from Vegas! It’s completely understandable why they chose to show who they did, those are all Big Names with Good Stories, but man, they couldn’t even find montage space for Andrew Lowes. They gotta consider paring down this course.

~Because while this is one of the more fun iterations of the First Stage, it’s also very much an iteration of the First Stage. The new obstacles are merely variations on old themes; hold onto something and fly, run on an angled platform, and balance bridge. I don’t think anyone would complain if the First Stage were to be overhauled. People come to this show to see people fulfill their potential, and you can only do that so much jumping into the same spider every year, and it’s starting to look like people are solving this course. 36 of the Vegas entrants from last season are making a return trip, the highest number in the show’s history, and of the 20 First Stage clears on Wednesday, 14 made it to Vegas last season, and only one is in their (legit stoked to be using the gender-neutral pronoun here) Vegas debut. Obviously, experience isn’t everything (poor Karsten Williams), but it’s proving more helpful than not, and with more competitors becoming more seasoned (54/100 competitors with prior Vegas experience), it might be fun to see these cats try to solve a new course. One understands why NBC is reticent to change the First Stage, it’s obviously something that works and more clears is probably better for NBC because it gives them more footage to work with, but it’d be nice to see an actual new challenge, not just modified obstacles.

~Did they abandon the conceit where qualifiers from each region had to wear a certain color to denote the region from which they qualified? That’s lame if they did. I always liked seeing how the competitors with brands worked the color into their get-up -- I will never forget Anthony Scott’s giant red watch -- and I feel the show loses a little visual flair without forcing yellow and purple onto the dudes.

~I feel like I’m burying the lede here a little bit: ALLYSSA BEIRD! You could have given me ten guesses for “second woman to clear the First Stage on ANW” and Beird might’ve been seventh. There’s still some measure of unpredictability with the women’s runs on ANW; because each woman gets hella Hero Edit, it’s almost impossible to say which one’s going to clear any given course, so I’m still surprised when Barclay Stockett makes it all the way to the last obstacle, or when Jesse LeBreck (my pick to be the second FWIW) gets hung up on Parkour Road and barely misses. But the show’s editing also spoiled Beird’s clear; we know that ANW hates ending with failure, what with the way they opted to make Jake Murray’s corn dog the final image from ANW8 First Stage and not Geoff Britten taking the plunge on Snake Run. So when you see Barclay Stockett make it so close, then Jesse LeBreck getting closer still, and then you see Allyssa Beird (arguably a less notable competitor than LeBreck, too) on the platform, you sense that there’s a reason ANW is ordering the runs in this order. And when you can predict the outcome, it makes the moment that much less cool. Still a cool moment, I feel like I’m burying the lede a little by complaining about the way the show is edited instead of typing ALLYSSA BEIRD! a hundred times, but I wish ANW could embrace failure a little tighter.

~Like, every time Joe Moravsky runs without an extended pre-run interview package, I get a little nervous, and that makes watching him do his usual Joe Moravsky thing on the First Stage that much more fun, y’know? I get why the show is the way it is, it’s trying to be aspirational reality programming before it’s trying to embrace the randomness and chaos of Sport and I respect that, I just so wish it could change something up.

~Nick Kostreski was entirely cut from this broadcast, and understandably so; while he made it to Vegas last year and was one of the eight qualifying clears in Denver, but those are his only two accomplishments of note; if they couldn’t make room for Andrew Lowes, it would’ve been kinda shitty to cut him for Nick Kostreski. BUT. He is now notable for being the first person to clear from p15 in their city. He was the last man to qualify for Vegas in Denver, then (assuming ANW still runs Vegas in order from ‘worst city Finals result’ to ‘best’) the first to qualify for Stage Two. (I’m assuming nothing good happens for Jody Avila or whoever replaced Charlie Andrews, we saw nothing good happen for Michael Johnson and Jesse LeBreck, and Donovan Metoyer would’ve been the first man up.)

~This is ANW editing done right: I believe they showed Travis Rosen failing Snake Run before they showed Brian Wilczewski this year, just to establish that the first obstacle is dangerous, which shadows how the show used Lucas Gomes’ fall on the same obstacle to set up Rosen’s. So you kind of knew someone serious would go out on Snake Run again this season. And when they showed Brian Wilczewski failing the first obstacle in ANW5, I got absolutely giddy, because he was so going in the drink, AND THEN! And then. ANW doesn’t usually revel in failure like that, because it sort of goes against their ethos, but even if they didn’t show Rosen before B-Wil like I remember, they still set up that fall very well. “This man’s family still makes fun of the dumb this guy did four years ago. Bear witness to the nothing this man has learned.” Like, Brian. Brian. You’re now the dude who’s failed the first obstacle twice. Why would you ever want to be that guy. (Also: nice to see Chris Wilczewski on the sidelines, even if ANW didn’t explain why he wasn’t there.)

~JJ Woods has done two of the ten or so most impressive things I’ve ever seen on this course, now. I still remember this dude beasting through the last three obstacles of the First Stage in thirty seconds back in ANW6, and now here he is, skipping a step on Parkour Run. Like, of course the parkour guy’s gonna do some parkour shit on Parkour Run. (#1 for me is still honestly Jessell Boseman’s one-legged Jumping Spider. I still don’t get how he did it. And Judas Licciardello landing a flip off the Double Dipper was dope, even if it was more showy than useful.)

~Just so we have an end, the 20 clears that have been either shown or mentioned thus far: CLE16 Allyssa Beird (8.48) DEN15 Nick Kostreski (17.72) DEN14 Michael Silenzi (19.44) SAN14 Cass Clawson (22.68) LAX13 Nick Hanson (5.03) DEN9 Drew Knapp (5.03) CLE8 Mike Bernardo (24.90) LAX7 Kevin Bull (27.95) KCT6 Lance Pekus (45.48) SAN6 Andrew Lowes (6.68) DAY5 Travis Rosen (28.80) SAN4 Brent Steffensen (33.66) KCT4 Eric Middleton (23.52) LAX4 Flip Rodriguez (30.55) DAY3 Sean Darling-Hammond (6.26) LAX3 Josh Levin (14.30) DAY2 JJ Woods (16.73) SAN2 Thomas Stillings (32.88) CLE1 Joe Moravsky (42.76) DEN1 Ian Dory (7.34) So the next episode will have Brian Arnold, Meagan Martin, Jamie Rahn, Jon Alexis Jr, Mike Meyers, Dan Galiczynski, Najee Richardson, Mitch Vedepo, Tyler Yamauchi, Jeremiah Morgan, Drew Drechsel, Jessie Graff, Ryan Stratis, Daniel Gil, Nicholas Coolridge, Abel Gonzalez, Adam Rayl, and David Campbell, plus 30+ other talented athletes, so they prolly ended up with over 40 clears. Or maybe they didn’t! Maybe ANW is going to subvert all expectations and show an episode where everyone just gets completely hecked! WHO KNOWS! (They prolly broke 40.)

[cinedave]

REVIEW: Spiderman Homecoming - 3rd Time Lucky!

“Haven’t we seen this one already?”. One of the biggest criticisms points in this modern wave of superhero movies (Marvel or otherwise) is that audiences are really growing tired of origin stories. Less a factor of quality and more the quantity of debuting hero films following a similar format of slowly discovering their identity and abilities in time to overcome a disposable villain in a large CG set piece. Yet this very stigma has seen the MCU become increasingly creative in how it approaches its opening chapters like Ant Man’s Pym to Lang baton passing or the flashback origins stories of their Netflix shows. This 3rd time lucky at Spiderman embodies that origins fatigue because nobody wants to see Uncle Ben pop his loafers all over again. Yet Homecoming’s biggest strength is its refreshing shakeup approach on an origin story. Rather than re-creating the motions the emphasis is on embodying the themes as a young (and finally young looking) Peter learns the responsibilities of his abilities rather than someone spelling them out in a catch phrase all while being really entertaining in the process.

After swinging with the Avengers, Peter Parker (Tom Holland – The Impossible) is desperate for new excitement as he steps up his hero game but when he tangles scavenging arms dealer The Vulture (Michael Keaton – Batman, Birdman) has this spider climbed too far too fast?

Now the film’s tone will be a Marmite, make or break, factor for anyone watching it in the way it’s predominantly comical and satirical over more serious superhero antics. In fact, through the first act especially, Spiderman Homecoming feels most akin to 2010s Kick-Ass; embodied by an early montage of Peter’s problematic heroic efforts. Throughout the film this creates countless great laughs from the physical comedy of Peter’s inept web slinging Vs the more familiar and polished acrobatics of Garfield & Maguire, to the heavy amounts of well placed satire around the central character his abilities. Case and point, the notion of Spidey always being able to web sling everywhere gets a thorough debunking when he’s frequently not surrounded by skyscrapers and hilariously finding transport alternatives. I continually enjoyed this as a refreshing approach on well trodden material but for those that would rather watch Blade & Watchmen than Guardians of the Galaxy may receive as this too silly or even childish; so be mindful that this film expects you to smile a lot. That’s not to say the film can’t be meaningful and emotional. Such moments are kept sparse but impactful as a consequence and one particular final act moment shows just how good an actor Tom Holland can be.

Director Jon Watts is determined to make this a believable high school Spiderman movie so the lighter approach feels very in keeping with that to form the most well rounded representation of both Peter Parker and Spiderman. On the streets he’s out of his depth aspiring to be an Avenger and taking on real villains. In school he’s equally clueless as a sophomore trying to mix with cooler seniors and get the illusive popular girl. Unlike previous efforts the transitions between these worlds are seamless as despite some bigger set pieces the film keeps Spiderman as a street level hero, akin to his fellow New Yorkers, The Defenders. What’s more there’s so much to love among the high school scenes. Chief of which is newcomer Jacob Batalon as Peter’s ridiculously lovable best science bro, Ned. From his huge gormless grins to poor secret keeping skills and excellent chemistry with Tom Holland his every appearance gives you something to enjoy. Then there’s Toni Revoli’s (The Grand Budapest Hotel) new take on Peter’s traditional tormentor Flash Thompson. In apt reflection of modern bullying Flash never so much as throws a punch Peter’s way, instead resorting to humiliation and verbal taunting. Finally Zendaya’s (K.C. Undercover) Michelle’s use as a witty oddball provides many unexpected laughs. Hopefully they’ll keep Peter within these halls for at least one sequel before sending him to the Daily Bugle, camera in hand.

<insert tired “hero only as good as his villain joke>. It’s fair to say antagonists have been a weakness of the MCUs film endeavours with few real success stories.... but Michael Keaton’s Vulture is definitely one of them. First up, it’s Michael f’in Keaton. His acting chops are bigger his robo wings and crucially he’s gets to spread them with good solid dialogue that plays into his intensity. The opening minutes keep his motivation simple and effective; driven into crime out of financial necessity and the changing world post-Chitari invasion. While he is forced into a few villain troupes that feel out of his character, this Birdman is a fine character addition. His visual CG presence looks rather cool too with his jerry rigged gear and beaming green eyes. The Spiderman/Vulture conflicts do want for more creativity though. While the nature of their characters makes a straight up fight more impractical the fights can get a little monotone, elevated only by their surroundings.

While I found this film hugely fun, this Spider’s web does fray in places. While so much of the high school antics at great things feel a little forced between Peter and romantic interest Liz (Laura Harrier – One Life to Live). Yes, they are following the likes of Garfield & Stone but sadly Harrier gives by little to invest in. The use of Shocker as henchmen villain was a underwhelming; especially the way he’s defeated in a “that’s it” moment. Finally for all its enjoyable goofing around there are a couple moments where you’ll wish it took itself more seriously.

Contrary to much trolling belief neither is this film Iron Man 4. Despite has heavy trailer presence Tony Spark/Iron Man is sparsely used in this film to keep the focus on its title star. More importantly he succeeds in his purpose as a mentor like figure..... which considering his playboy billionaire origins is an interesting full circle. Fellow MCU party crashers like Happy Hogan are kept as framing devices rather than stealing any thunder. Even some Spiderman staples like Aunt May get thankfully sparing treatment rather than having to over sell their importance; building on existing fan base knowledge from the past film outings. Many good seeds are planted for future allies and villains. A certain neck tattoo seems like a sequel casting call. While Donald Glover’s character (and his mentioned nephew) point towards some other possible appearances throughout what will likely be a Spiderman trilogy.

The action impresses without being overly escalated, the laughs come faster and harder than impact webbing (interrogation mode may break you) all spun around what’s fair to call the greatest ever live action incarnation of our beloved friendly neighbourhood Spiderman. It’s the MCUs most fun film since the first Guardians and its best since Civil War. Stay to the for a perfect end credits scene and get excited because Spiderman.... he’s home.

[aion-rsa]

Zub Invites Baron Zemo to a Thunderbolts Anniversary Celebration

Marvel Comics’ latest “Thunderbolts” team was formed when the Winter Soldier (AKA Bucky Barnes) and several former team members banded together to protect the living Cosmic Cube fragment, Kobik, from S.H.I.E.L.D. and any other forces looking to exploit her abilities. But by doing so Bucky unwittingly put them all in the crosshairs of his former partner, Steve Rogers.

Kobik used to be under the thrall of Hydra and its villainous master, the Red Skull, who utilized her reality-altering abilities to change history. When she was done, the original Captain America had been a secret agent of Hydra for pretty much his entire life. Kobik broke free son after tweaking the timeline, and the Skull’s forces have been trying to recover her ever since.

Now, Rogers has discovered that the childlike Kobik is in the custody of Bucky and his team. This February, he’ll put his secret weapon against the group into play; a weapon that knows Bucky’s comrades better than almost anyone: Thunderbolts founder, Baron Helmut Zemo. It all happens in “Thunderbolts” #10, by writer Jim Zub and artist Jon Malin, which celebrates the team’s 20th Anniversary and kicks off a new arc titled “Return of the Masters.”

CBR: You recently brought back a long-time Thunderbolt, Songbird, and this February, you’re bringing back another in the form of Baron Zemo. How does it feel to bring him back to the book? And how important do you feel Zemo is to the larger Thunderbolts mythos?

Jim Zub: Zemo is obviously at the heart of the original Thunderbolts concept, so if we have an anniversary issue, we want to bring him into the mix. There’s an element of nostalgia to the series, but it’s not just about retreading what’s been done before. It’s about celebrating the elements at the heart of what has been “Thunderbolts.” There are all these different elements that have built this amazing series and we want to address them all, have them in play, and do some very exciting things with them.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “Thunderbolts” #10

In short, having Zemo involved is absolutely crucial. He formed the team, instigating the original mystery behind them and their villainous reveal. He’s part of the DNA of villainy that drove the Thunderbolts from the start and that the team members eventually rejected in an attempt to become heroes in their own right. For this special 20th anniversary event he’s got to be at the center of it.

What’s it like writing Zemo?

It’s awesome. Zemo is such a great character because he’s powerful, but not in a raw, cosmic sense. He’s just got the power of personality. He’s pure intent, and I think the way he’s able to drive that leadership and push people towards different ends is what makes him such a valuable character when you’re building a story.

Whenever you put him into the mix there’s always something great you’re going to get out of it; an intense, emotional quality. Regardless of what the other cast members of the Thunderbolts think in terms of their own heroism, what he did for them and the way he was able to unify them at the start, and at a number of other points in their history, can’t be denied. He’s someone who gets things done and I think that’s what makes him such a great character. You add him into the mix, and there’s this instant spark of intensity.

Has Zemo’s personality changed at all in light of history being altered so he and Steve Rogers were childhood friends?

I can’t really speak too much about that. I don’t want to spoil any of Nick Spencer’s story stuff that’s coming up. There are some aspects, though.

One thing I really like about the way Nick is writing Steve Rogers, even when he’s loyal to Hydra and that organization’s ideals, is that he’s still Steve Rogers. He’s still this aspirational figure. He’s doing and planning dark things, but there’s still a charisma to him. He’s still this larger than life figure. It’s great that Steve didn’t just become a mustache-twirling villain. He’s much more nuanced and careful. He’s still a leader even if he’s leading a group that’s villainous or has darker ideas in mind.

Zemo is sort of the same. Helmut has been altered, but at his core he’s still this charismatic, capable, driven person. That makes this work a lot better. It’s not just corny mind control where a person is outright evil and doing dark things for the sake of darkness. They still have their core personality they’re just driven to a different end now because of that historical alteration.

Yeah, I always felt Zemo was a character who had admirable goals, but pursued them via deplorable methods. I think with history being altered Steve has become a similar type of figure.

Right, and that makes for a great villain. You may not empathize with them completely, but there’s a sense of purpose where you go, “I don’t agree with what you’re doing, but I can see how you’d come to this conclusion even if you’re walking the wrong path.”

Zemo has such close ties to the Thunderbolts. He’s been through more with them than anyone else in his history so he has a desire to return to that strength. He feels they have value, but if they won’t join him he’s going to do what needs to get done. I think that’s what’s going to make the conflict so rich here. It’s not just a matter of Zemo showing up and kicking everyone’s butt. He brings hard decisions in his wake and that intensity makes the whole thing spark.

Bucky’s version of the Thunderbolts is different from Zemo’s, but both have been unifying forces, they just put the group in different situations. They’re going to have to make some hard choices especially in the face of stuff we’ve got coming up in the months ahead.

How big a role will Steve play in the “Return of the Masters” arc?

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “Thunderbolts” #10

I can’t really say. [Laughs] The fall out of Bucky’s imprisonment in the just-released “Thunderbolts” #8 and Steve’s involvement there will answer that a bit, otherwise readers will have to wait and see.

In issue #7, we got a little bit of your take on the relationship between Steve and Bucky, but can you talk a little more about how Steve views Bucky in light of everything that has gone on with him?

“Thunderbolts” #8 gives you a stronger sense of that. I can’t go into too much detail, but the way Nick and I have talked about it is that Steve is fond of James. They have a bond there, and they’ve gone on missions together. It’s not that they have no history — it’s just that it’s different than before.

When Steve talks to Bucky in prison, he wants to get Kobik of course, but there’s also a bond between the two of them. It’s not just a cold, calculating kind of thing. Some of that emotion and intensity coming from Steve is genuine.

The way I’ve thought about it, and I talked to Nick about it and we agree, is that, like you said, Steve has his ultimate ends in mind. He doesn’t consider himself a villain. Bucky currently has Kobik, and it’s a huge danger for Steve’s plans to have her to be out there without Hydra’s control. So, when push comes to shove, Cap is going to break towards his ultimate mission, but if he doesn’t have to kill someone he’s not going to.

With Steve, Zemo, Bucky and Kobik all sort of converging together, this story feels like it could be both a milestone “Thunderbolts” story and a pivotal chapter in the long form Steve Rogers tale that Nick is telling in his book.

Absolutely. Nick and I have been working closely together. Before any of this Hydra stuff was announced, I was brought up to speed on where things were going so we could plan it appropriately.

In the first issue of our new “Thunderbolts” series, we laid in some of the Chitauri stuff Nick has followed up on in “Steve Rogers” as well. We’ve been back and forth building some of these different elements, and I think people are going to be surprised at how they pay off later on.

If you’re reading the “Steve Rogers” book, the “Sam Wilson” book, and “Thunderbolts,” you’re getting as complete a picture as you can right now. Obviously, we’re heading towards more dramatic things to come.

What’s it like bouncing Zemo off some of the new members of the Thunderbolts like Kobik and Bucky?

Zemo has interacted with Kobik before during the “Avengers: Standoff” event. He saw her merely as a Cosmic Cube; an object he desired. It’s not as simple a thing now, though. She’s a lot more complicated.

Zemo thinks the Thunderbolts are still his to lead. He knows how to push and pull them and he’s not wrong in some ways, but he doesn’t always have a complete picture and tries to sort of bulldoze over any of the things he doesn’t know about them or care about them so he can get to his ultimate goals

To me, it always felt like Fixer and Atlas had especially conflicted feelings about Zemo.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “Thunderbolts” #10

Absolutely. They couldn’t deny that he was charismatic and capable. Plus, in some ways he provided them with a structure that they needed.

I’ve always looked at Atlas as a follower. He’s looking for guidance and an authority figure to say, “This is what we need to do, and if we get it done we’re going to win.” When he has that kind of structure he feels most complete, and that’s why he’s really enjoyed being on a team with Bucky. Bucky tells him what to do, and tells him when he’s doing it wrong.

Someone like the Fixer is the same, but his issue is literally fixing problems. It doesn’t matter if he’s doing it for good or evil. I always got the sense the Fixer doesn’t have strong moral leanings one way or another. It’s more, “You give me a platform to show off how amazing I am? I’ll do that for you. You deny my genius and treat me like crap? I’m going to go somewhere else or betray you.”

Since this is a 20th Anniversary issue, are there also nods to other incarnations of the Thunderbolts like the brief “Fight Club” version, and the groups that served as Norman Osborn and Thunderbolt Ross’ personal strike teams?

When I took over the book, I read every single “Thunderbolts” issue with a notepad by my side. I also read “Dark Avengers” — not because I thought I was going to bring everything into play, but I wanted to have a good sense of what had come before. The way I look at continuity is that it all happened, but what areas do I want to emphasize? Or what rings true to me when I’m writing a story? If I can put in little asides or those elements dovetail into the story in a way that makes sense that we can mention stuff from the past, great. I don’t want to shoehorn things in there or make it feel like the Greatest Hits collection; where all I’m doing is callbacks because I feel like that’s disingenuous. Our job as storytellers is to keep this thing moving forward, but the good and the bad of continuity is that it all happened. If an element makes sense, I make sure I bring it in.

The characters have a past and a shared history. I’ll include funny little lines where they talk about Zemo as a leader compared to someone like Norman Osborn. That kind of contrast is something I like to play with, but I’m not trying to check off boxes of every single iteration of the team. When you do that it just becomes a cold exercise in nostalgia. I know that’s not a direct answer, but I’m trying to keep from revealing too much.

How will the action in the “Return of the Masters” arc manifest? Is this a story where Zemo is coming directly at the Thunderbolts? Or is it more of a tale of machinations and subterfuge?

It’s not subtle. [Laughs] It gets pretty intense right from the first chapter. It’s funny because when we were planning it out I had to make sure it was going to work with some of Nick’s plans and I realized that, based on the timing, we had to kick it into gear quite quickly but that actually worked for the best. Rather than starting off slow I thought, “Okay, let’s just open strong and intensify it from there.”

In issue #10 Thunderbolts creators Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley are coming back to do a short story. When we were bouncing ideas back and forth, I realized what would actually work best based on the pacing was for Kurt and Mark to do the prologue. They’ve created a 10-page opening story that tees up a bunch of cool things for me. It’s part of the big payoff, not just an aside.

We know your artistic collaborator, Jon Malin, can handle action, and it sounds like this arc will have plenty of that, but it also feels like we’ll see him stretch his character acting skills as well since it involves a lot of interpersonal conflict and conflicted feelings.

Yeah, what’s nice about this arc is there’s an emotional intensity. There’s fisticuffs of course, but there’s also a lot of harsh conversations dripping with tension. I think readers are going to be surprised where we take things with issue #11.

So, is it safe to assume that by the time the “Return of the Masters” arc comes to an end the Thunderbolts will be in a very different place as a team if they’re still together at all?

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “Thunderbolts” #10

[Laughs] Issue #12 will be apocalyptic. We’re going to be breaking and building all kinds of stuff. We’ll also be putting them in some pretty cool spots. I hope people who have read “Thunderbolts” are pumped to see the next chapter and excited to let us run with the ball and keep working with such an amazing concept.

The Thunderbolts concept is so rich because it has a complexity to it. They’re villains trying to be heroes and often failing along the way. There are areas of redemption and failure in the concept that I don’t think a lot of other books play with. I like that the characters mess up but keep trying.

I knew Thunderbolts and had read it back in the day, but before I got this assignment I’d never sat down and tried to take it all in at once. When I did that I realized these were the threads that spoke strongest to me and I think speak strongest to the readers. They’re aspects I want to explore, but not just retread. So how can we move things forward in a way that makes sense, but also isn’t too easy to telegraph? Answering those questions while playing in the larger sandbox of the Marvel Universe has been a ton of fun.

I love that a book like “Thunderbolts” can have a 20-year legacy. There was a while there where it became a wonderful gathering place for a lot of lost characters that didn’t necessarily have a home. The Thunderbolts became this weird family that doesn’t really get along, but have this bond with each other. That bond is that they’re all trying to be more than what they are. Sometimes that’s in a villainous direction. Sometimes it’s heroic. It’s a great platform for telling stories.

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